Yupun finishes ninth but gains valuable experience

Sri Lanka National record holder Yupun Abeykoon finished last in the men’s 100 metres but gained invaluable experience competing against the world’s best at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich on Thursday.

Abeykoon who was the only South Asian to have competed in the men’s 100 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, clocked 10.25 seconds at the Diamond League final where only the top four clocked sub 10 seconds.

With the World Championships and several other international events taking place next year the experience will augur well for the Italy based sprinter as he competed against the world’s top athletes.

Fred Kerley wins 100 and 400 metres

Fresh from making history by becoming the first man to win 100m, 200m and 400m races in the Diamond League, the USA’s Fred Kerley achieved another first with no other athlete having ever won Diamond Trophies in both the 100m and 400m.

Three years after claiming the 400m crown, Kerley won the 100m in 9.87 in Zurich as he narrowly held off Canada’s Andre De Grasse, who equalled his PB with 9.89. Kerley’s US compatriots Ronnie Baker and Trayvon Bromell were just behind them, running 9.91 and 9.96 for third and fourth place respectively.

Both Kerley and De Grasse were back on the track for the 200m final just over an hour later, when it was Kenny Bednarek – racing on fresh legs – who continued his incredible consistency to take the crown.

Adding to his record single-season tally of sub-20-second 200m times, Bednarek achieved his 11th wind-legal clocking of the season, running 19.70 as Olympic champion De Grasse – who gained a medal double in Tokyo having also claimed 100m bronze – was again the runner-up, running 19.72.

Kerley was third this time in 19.83, while Canada’s Aaron Brown was fourth in 20.13.

Meanwhile Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson-Herah brought an incredible season to a close with yet another record-breaking performance in the corresponding women’s 100 metres.

After an Olympic record, a Diamond League record and many more storming performances in between, this time it was the 37-year-old Weltklasse Zurich 100m record which fell as the five-time Olympic gold medallist clocked a dominant 10.65 for her ninth sub-10.80 run of the year.

It is the equal 10th fastest time in history, with Thompson-Herah herself owning four of those performances, topped by the 10.54 she ran at the Eugene Diamond League meeting to move to second on the world all-time list. The Jamaican also occupies the No.2 spot on the global 200m all-time list thanks to her 21.53 to win one of her three Olympic gold medals in Tokyo.